Culture And Memory

Oral Histories: Our Wakefield, Our Story

We’ll preserve the Oral Histories of 150 working-class people from five former industrial communities in Wakefield District. We’ll build on a successful pilot which digitally preserved 30 untold stories from Castleford’s coal-mining community. These Oral Histories were exhibited at National Trust’s Nostell Priory, reaching a wide audience, and encouraging working-class-visitors. They’re being preserved digitally for posterity/permanent access by Wakefield Museums, filling an identified gap. The five new areas have equally strong industrial heritage, including glass-making, boat-building, textiles and coal-mining where most local people derived their livelihoods. These industries have now all but gone. As workers/family members pass-away, their stories will be lost forever unless we act now. Working with local groups/historical societies, we’ll capture 30 Oral Histories of working-class life per community around specific themes. Wakefield Museums/Libraries will run local exhibitions and preserve the recordings digitally. Six major Wakefield heritage sites/shopping centres will exhibit the Oral Histories, attracting working-class visitors.